EC must "sit up" and clean its books -Titus Glover

The Electoral Commission is being tasked to clean its books following news that about some 23 political parties have been registered by the commission with only eight of them ready for the 2012 elections.

The Daily Graphic in its Monday, October 08, 2012 edition reports that even though many of the parties which are yet to elect their flag bearers appear moribund; their names remain in the books of the EC.

The parties that have organised their national congresses and elected their flag bearers are the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), the Convention People’s Party, (CPP), the People’s National Convention (PNC), the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), the United Front Party (UFP) and the Independent People’s Party?(IPP).

Speaking on e.tv Ghana’s Breakfast TV, a member of the NPP communications team and parliamentary aspirant for Tema East Constituency, Nii Kwartei Titus Glover, noted that the EC had been magnanimous in applying its rules in ensuring that all registered political parties have a “physical appearance on the geo-politics of our country.”

He said, “When you go to the records we don’t see these people, some have been there since 1992. By the electoral commission rules they need to have offices across the length and breadth of this country; you don’t even see them at all. So I think that the EC maybe have been so magnanimous.”

“I remember anytime they are given out their certificate, they advise the political parties that they will be coming round to really watch whether they are really operating or not. Especially where they are given the interim certificate before they are given the final certificate. But I can tell you there are lots of them who are not functioning. I don’t see why they should be in the books of the electoral commission,” he continued.

Nii Kwartei Titus Glover called for “seriousness” on Ghana’s political landscape noting that, “You don’t just come and occupy space. Those are mushroom political parties and seriously we have to take things seriously.”

He further tasked the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr Afari Gyan to sit up and ensure that the rules are adhered to.

“So Dr. Afari Gyan, the way you pushed for the creation of these 45 constituencies, I think you must sit up and look at all these political parties to ensure that they are really functioning,” he said.